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Ben Affleck, the New Batman

It was huge news when it was announced that Batman would go up against Superman in Man of Steel 2. Speculation began about who would play this version of Batman since Christian Bale wrapped up his time with the role. Well, the news is out! It’s been announced that the newest actor to take up the mantle of this hero is none other than Ben Affleck. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, Ben Affleck is the new Batman. Just imagine this face wearing the dark black cowl of Gotham’s hero.

This is a role that has changed over the years and has certainly been played by many actors. Much like our favorite secret agent James Bond or the Doctor in Doctor Who, the role is passed along as the years go on. Sometimes this can be quite fun, we get to see a character continue but we get different interpretations. Most people have a favorite version of these characters. Sometimes it’s because they grew up with that particular actor or because they think that actor did the best performance. Back when The Dark Knight Rises was coming out, Den of Geek put together a great list of the 7 actors that have played the iconic role of Batman. Many of these casting decisions had the critics up in arms. Some proved to be right and others were quite wrong. Practically everyone has a favorite from this list.

With each of these series and each of these changes there is typically an explosion of opinions among fans. Some of them are incredibly excited about the news. Others are angry and can’t believe the choice that’s been made. At least with Doctor Who, this image perfectly captures the typical cycle with the ever changing actors:

Change can be hard, especially when it’s with a character that we know and love. Will we love this new casting? Will we hate it? For now it’s all speculation. Ben Affleck being cast as Batman comes as a surprise but we won’t really know how good or bad he will be until we’ve seen the movie. He’s had some ups and downs with his roles. Some have been absolutely incredible. However, he’s also had a few bad ones that seem to follow him forever. What will it be this time? Can he bring something new to the table as Batman? He could blow us all away with his performance. He could have such great writing and direction that this new version of Batman becomes a favorite. It could go poorly and be tossed up as another “it didn’t work” moment. We love to speculate and toss out opinions, but it will be interesting to see just how many of those opinions may change when the movie is out.

What do you think? Will he make a good Batman?

The debate is sure to continue. Let the countdown to 2015 and Superman vs. Batman begin!